Turtles All the Way Down – Movie Review

TL;DR – Come for the interesting exploration of mental health and the bond of teenagers in the face of tragedy. Stay tuned for the exciting trivia about Indianapolis.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Binge service that viewed this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Yellow microbes on a black banner.

Turtles All the Way Down Review

Today, we look at a film in which I had some deep trepidation before pressing play. I generally like the author’s work and have read all of his other novels; however, when I sat down to read the Turtles book, I hit a wall. There was this moment early in the book when it went from being a fictional story to being too real and personal, and I had to put the book down. And I am sorry to say, I never picked it back up again. So today, what we have is almost a second attempt for me to find a new first impression and see if I can make it further into the work than last time. Well, I have a packet of Wagon Wheels in front of me and the house smells of roast potatoes, and there is no time like the present.  

So to set the scene, we open with Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced) lamenting or musing about how 50% of the human body mass is made up of microbial entities and what that means on a philosophical level with her therapist Dr. Kira Singh (Poorna Jagannathan). Aza has OCD, which relates to how she perceives the microbial world, both within and without. When she goes to have lunch with her best friend Daisy Ramirez (Cree), they discover that Aza’s old friend Davis Pickett’s (Felix Mallard) father has gone missing, and there is a $100,000 reward.

Continue reading

Madame Web – Movie Review

TL;DR – It is a film that shows that you can have a great cast and an exciting scenario, but that will still not lead to a coherent narrative that has an impact.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Everyone sees the Spider-Person attacking them for the first time.

Madame Web Review

Some of the best work that is happening in the superhero genre is coming out of Sony’s Spider-Man adjacent Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, that strength is found almost entirely in its animated division, and maybe Venom, if I have had a drink or two. Unfortunately, last year’s Morbius showed us that it is also the source of some of the worst films happening in this space. While we don’t reach those depths this week, we do get a movie that was screaming with potential but ended up being wholly lacklustre.

So to set the scene, in 1973, deep in the forests of Peru, a heavily pregnant Constance Webb (Kerry Bishé) and her security partner Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) are looking for a spider whose venom is meant to have potent healing properties. Constance finds the spider but is betrayed by Webb and left for dead. A local tribe rescues her, but they can only save the life of her newborn. In the present of 2003, Cassandra ‘Cassie’ Webb (Dakota Johnson) is now a paramedic, but when a near-death experience rocks her world, there might be more than just some trauma unlocked.

Continue reading